A definitive list of the declared Democrats running in 2020
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
November 8, 2019
The 2020 playing field only continues to get wider as more people declare to challenge the Trump incumbency. Here is a brief list of the democrats and the most recent polls.
Infogram by Alyssa Gehrke
Joseph R. Biden Jr., 76
Our best days still lie ahead
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Joe Biden, though one of the last to declare, has been projected for a nearly 30-point advantage in some national polls. He is a former vice president, and a former senator from Delaware. He has run for president twice before and believes 2020 is his last chance to run for president.
His national polling average is 26%, and his news coverage ranking is #1.
Major Policy Points:
- Restoring America’s standing on the global stage
- Strengthening economic protections for low-income workers in industries like manufacturing and fast food
- Firmly believes in the value of bipartisanship
- Insists on extending overtures to Republicans even in a moment when many in his own party don’t see negotiating partners on the other side
While Biden’s past in the legislature has weighed him down with some crowds, Biden is winning well amongst older Democrats.
“
If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.
— Joe Biden
Michael Bennet, 54
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Michael Bennet is a Senator from Colorado and has been since 2009. He has served as a counsel to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General under the Clinton Administration. He also worked in Denver public schools as the Superintendent and in the private sector turning around failing businesses.
Major Policy Points:
- Climate Change
- Modernizing the economy in fields like artificial intelligence for increasing infrastructure spending
“
We cannot be the first generation to leave less to our kids, not more. That’s why I’m running for president. Let’s build opportunity for every American and restore integrity to our government.
— Michael Bennet
Bernie Sanders, 78
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Sanders, who ran in the 2016 election and was a runner-up to Hillary Clinton, didn’t shock many with his 2020 campaign declaration. He remains something of an outsider though: He is a self-described democratic-socialist, considered somewhat radical in the 2016 election, is now quite commonplace amongst 2020 hopefuls.
His national polling average is 14%, and his news coverage ranking is #3.
Major Policy Points:
- Medicare for all
- $15 minimum wage
- Tuition-free college
“
The only way we will win this election and create a government and economy that work for all is with a grassroots movement – the likes of which has never been seen in American history.
— Bernie Sanders
Elizabeth Warren, 70
Fighting for America’s promise for all of us
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Elizabeth Warren is a U.S. Senator who has campaigned heavily on strong policy points that her fellow 2020 contenders have yet to truly match. She follows closer to a capitalist system that works for the people rather than a democratic socialist stance.
Her national polling average is 21%, and her news coverage ranking is #2.
Major Policy Points:
- Make income inequality nonexistent
- She sees a middle class that is under attack from big corporations and political corruption
Warren speaks frequently about the need for “big, structural change” and has released a wide range of detailed plans that together have the potential to reshape the economy.
“
It’s time for women to go to Washington and fix our broken government, and that includes a woman at the top.
— Elizabeth Warren
Kamala Harris, 55
Kamala Harris for the People
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Kamala Harris is a U.S. senator out of California who practiced law and was California’s attorney general. She was one of the few new Democrats to join the Senate after 2016 and is like many in the Democratic party today, shifting towards a more progressive stance on key policy points instead of attempting a more moderate approach.
Her national polling average is 4%, and her news coverage ranking is #6.
Major Policy Points:
- Climate change
- Free college
- Gun control
- Medicare for all
- Has championed a liberal civil rights agenda in the Senate
“
I believe our country wants and needs some leadership that provides a vision of the country in which everyone could see themselves.
— Kamala Harris
Pete Buttigieg, 37
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Buttigieg is a young mayor from South Bend and a former member of the Navy Reserve. He began to draw national notice after writing an essay that counseled Democrats on how to recover from their defeats in the 2016 elections.
His national polling average is 8%, and his news coverage ranking is #5.
Major Policy Points:
- Climate change
- Support labor and economic opportunity
- Universal background checks
- Single-payer healthcare system
He shot up amongst the polls earlier last month and is aiming to be the first member of the LGBTQ community to be president.
“
I am running to be the president who will pick up the rubble, pick up the pieces of our divided nation, and lead us to real action to do right by Americans who have waited far too long
— Pete Buttigieg
Cory Booker, 50
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Booker is a U.S. senator from New Jersey, who is known for being the Mayor of Newark and the first African American U.S. senator from New Jersey. He is viewed as one of the most gifted orators in the field, running on a politics of uplift that recalls President Obama’s 2008 campaign.
His national polling average is 1%, and his news coverage ranking is #9.
Major Policy Points:
- Criminal justice reform
- Legalize marijuana
- Proposed a government-run saving program called “baby bonds” to curb inequality
He has one of the most liberal voting records of any senator, but has potentially damning ties to Wall Street and Big Pharma.
“
I believe that we can build a country where no on is forgotten, no one is left behind… where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame
— Cory Booker
Amy Klobuchar, 59
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
A Minnesota senator, Klobuchar is more of a moderate who raised more than $5 million dollars in the first quarter. Her campaign has been hit by repeated reports of bad treatment towards those who work for her, like the report of her accidentally throwing a binder.
Her national polling average is 2%, and her news coverage ranking is #7.
Major Policy Points:
- Climate change
- Expand Medicare
- Has championed legislation to combat the opioid crisis and drug addiction and to address the cost of prescription drugs
She became a hero to many Democrats, and has called for Democrats to focus on reclaiming the swing states in the middle of the country while pitching herself as the person who can win there.
“
It is time to organize, time to galvanize, time to take back our democracy
— Amy Klobuchar
Tulsi Gabbard, 38
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Gabbard is a representative from Hawaii who has a history of bi-partisanship. She supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries, and has drawn condemnation for meeting with Syria’s president.
Her national polling average is 2%, and her national news coverage ranking is #4.
Major Policy Points:
- Climate change
- Ban assault weapons
- Universal background checks
- Opposition to American military intervention overseas, including in countries like Syria.
Her run has been bogged down by controversies, such as her history of being very anti-LGBTQ and her foreign policy past. Though she has apologized for her history of anti-gay statements and her past work for an anti-gay advocacy group.
“
There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve
— Tulsi Gabbard
Julián Castro, 45
Emma Rasmussen and Alyssa Gehrke
Castro is the former head of Housing and Urban Development, who made headlines after disparaging Trump and promoting Clinton during his time there, which is a violation of the Hatch Act. He is the only nominee who is a Latino, and he was the first Democratic candidate to visit Puerto Rico as a contender.
His national polling average is <1% and his news coverage ranking is #10
Major policy points:
- Raise the minimum wage
- Universal Pre-K education
- Medicare for all
- Decriminalizing border crossings
“
I’m running for president because it’s time for new leadership. Because it’s time for new energy.
— Julián Castro
Steve Bullock, 53
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Steve Bullock is the two-term Democratic Governor, of a state that Trump easily won in 2016. He’s also the former state Attorney General of Montana. He’s the only candidate who’s won a known Trump state.
Major Policy Points:
- Banning assault weapons
- Pushing for early childhood education
- Reducing economic inequality
“
We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people’s voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of fair shot for everyone.
— Steve Bullock
John Delaney, 56
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
John Delaney was elected into the House in 2012 as a “pragmatic idealist” and has been running aggressively since 2017. He has visited every county in Iowa, but that hasn’t done much to improve his odds.
Major Policy Points:
- Universal Health Care
- Climate Change
- Economic Opportunity for everyone
- Fixing our Broken Politics
“
I think I’m the right person for the job, but not enough people knew who I was or still know who I am.
— John Delaney
Andrew Yang, 44
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Andrew Yang is a former tech executive who founded an economic development nonprofit. He has also drawn media attention for highlighting tech issues like robotics and artificial intelligence.
His national polling average is 2%, and his news coverage ranking is #11.
Major Policy Points:
- Human-Centered Capitalism
- Medicare for All
- Freedom Dividend
- Establishing a universal basic income for all Americans
“
Universal basic income is an old idea, but it’s an old idea that right now is uniquely relevant because of what we’re experiencing in society.
— Andrew Yang
Marianne Williamson, 67
Dignity. Decency. Democracy.
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Williamson is campaigning for democracy to become a thing for which people can feel proud of. She is an author of more than a dozen self-help and spirituality books. She also ran for Congress as an independent in 2014 and lost.
Major Policy Points:
- Giving everyone a fair shot – changing the trickle-down economics
- Putting money towards reparations for slavery
“
We need a moral and spiritual awakening in the country… Nothing short of that is adequate to fundamentally change the patterns of our political dysfunction.
— Marianne Williamson
Joe Sestak, 67
Accountability to America
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Joe Sestak was a former congressman from Pennsylvania in 2016. He was the highest-ranking military officer to ever be elected to Congress. He won a long-shot victory in 2010 for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
Sestak has performed poorly in the polls, and even though he is a long-shot candidate, he is giving it his all by focusing on forging personal connections.
Major Policy Points:
- Combating climate change
- Restoring America’s place in the world
- Medicare for all
- Universal Pre-K
- End fossil fuel subsidies
He ended up delaying his presidential campaign announcement to help is daughter fight brain cancer, only after she went into remission did he jump into the race. Sestak also has a history of going against the Democratic Party.
“
Our country desperately needs a president with a depth of global experience and an understanding of all the elements of our nation.
— Joe Sestak
Tom Steyer, 62
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Tom Steyer started out as an environmental activist before airing millions of dollars in television ads demanding Trump’s impeachment. He is now known for being a billionaire former hedge fund executive, and a climate change and impeachment activist.
His national polling average is <1%, and his news coverage ranking is #8.
Major Policy Points:
- Fighting climate change
- Promoting renewable energy
- More funding for schools
“
Americans are deeply disappointed and hurt by the way they’re treated by what they think is the power elite in Washington D.C.
— Tom Steyer
Wayne Messam, 45
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Messam is a former college football champion and is the mayor of Miramar, Florida. He is the city’s first black mayor and is a first-generation American born to Jamaican parents. He is hoping to use that connection to tap into the Caribbean-American community.
Major Policy Points:
- Proposed canceling more than $1.5 trillion in student debt owed by 44 million Americans
- Bring American jobs back from China
- Protect immigrants
Believes that the lack of urgency to plan for the future and take action on the crises we can see coming is the biggest threat facing our nation.
“
America belongs to all of us. The promise of America belongs to all of us. That’s why I’m going to be running for president. To be your champion.
— Wayne Messam
About the Contributors
Emma Rasmussen, Journalist
Emma Rasmussen is a senior at Sartell High School. She has an affinity for the arts, such as writing and painting. Her favorite musicians are Elton John,...
Alyssa Gehrke, Journalist
Alyssa Gehrke is a senior at Sartell High School. If she could steal one thing, it would be cartons of cheesecake ice-cream. After high school, she would...